Citizens on Patrol volunteers lend eyes and ears to new, Franklin County program

ROCKY MOUNT — Roger Hilfer flew helicopters during the Vietnam War, including the perilous duty of combat search and rescue. He piloted choppers also in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983, and later during Desert Storm. He knows how it feels when adrenaline spikes.

But these days, under certain circumstances, Hilfer, 67, becomes a fan of boredom.

On July 30, Hilfer and Dana Newton, 56, teamed up for an evening shift as volunteers in the new Citizens on Patrol program managed by Franklin County’s sheriff’s office.

The men wore the program’s issued uniform of white polo shirt with sheriff’s office patches, black pants and boots. They climbed into the Citizens on Patrol’s dedicated cruiser, a 2006 Chevrolet Impala with a brand new battery and an odometer reading of about 143,000 miles.

Hilfer drove and Newton rode shotgun, so to speak — by policy, neither was armed. Newton said he has a concealed weapon permit but is happy to obey the program’s firearms prohibition.

“I’m not going to carry, and it’s not an issue,” he said.

Franklin County Sheriff Bill Overton announced the Citizens on Patrol program just four days after a jury in Florida found neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder in the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Overton, who was elected sheriff in November 2011, said he was sensitive to the timing but felt the county’s program has been carefully crafted and its volunteers are well-schooled in the limits of their authority. He said they know to summon a deputy if anything they encounter seems
unsafe.

“They’re not armed, and they’re not sworn officers in terms of power of arrest,” Overton said. “They are not to put themselves in any situation that is dangerous, and they’re not to put themselves in a confrontational position with a member of the public.”

The program currently has nine volunteers. All are graduates of the Sheriff’s Citizen Academy, which had its first class in April 2012, and have had an additional 10 weeks of training for Citizens on Patrol.

Overton said the radio-equipped volunteers provide extra sets of eyes and ears on patrol and complete more mundane tasks that can bog down deputies trying to cover Franklin County’s 692 square miles. The volunteers’ tasks can include business and vacation checks, motorist assistance, checks of elementary schools, traffic control, funeral escorts, unlocking vehicles and more.

The work of Citizens on Patrol allows sworn officers “to do more of the real grit of what we need to do each and every day,” Overton said.

He said he got the idea for the program while attending a National Sheriff’s Association meeting. Overton hopes Citizens on Patrol grows and that eventually local businesses may be willing to help
support it.

The sheriff’s office in neighboring Bedford County has a Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol, which this spring had 21 members who help direct traffic, assist stranded motorist and perform other duties.

In Franklin County, Newton said volunteers are asked to be available for patrol at least eight hours a month.

Hilfer lived in Chesapeake and worked as a production manager for The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk before moving to Franklin County. He lives in the Callaway area, and Newton, a native of Marshfield, Mass., lives at Smith Mountain Lake. The men started their shift July 30 by reviewing “hot sheets” that list administrative-type calls to which a deputy need not respond. There wasn’t much on the sheet that evening, so the men decided to check on several elementary schools, including Burnt Chimney, Dudley and Glade Hill.

At Dudley Elementary the men watched as a van with New York license plates pulled behind the school. They followed in the cruiser and watched. The van doors opened and a family piled out with balls and bats and was clearly intent on an evening of wholesome recreation.

“We’re not here to hassle folks,” Hilfer said.

As they motored around the county, heads occasionally swiveled.

“You get a lot of looks,” Newton said. “People kind of strain their necks a little bit.”

And motorists approaching at a fast clip sometimes slowed after apparently concluding the vehicle was a patrol car.

He said being visible to the public, and to potential crooks, is a key goal of the program.

“We’re looking and seeing and being seen,” Newton said.

He was Ferrum College’s maintenance director for 17 years and worked for Lionberger Construction Co. before becoming a facilities manager for Brandon Oaks in Roanoke, where Newton still works.

He said he joined the Citizens on Patrol program “because I have a real love for law enforcement.” He said he once served as a special police officer in Marshfield.

“And I love getting out and meeting people,” Newton said. “I like to think I’m doing something that helps the community.”

Hilfer said people in Franklin County welcomed him as a new resident in 2008 and said he wanted to “give back to the community” as a volunteer in the citizens patrol program.

Overton said the patrol program emerged naturally from the Sheriff’s Citizen Academy. The academy’s main focus is informing residents about how the sheriff’s office works, Overton said, but a few of its graduates have also volunteered for roles in the sheriff’s office, such as the fingerprinting of non-criminals.

Volunteers for Citizens on Patrol are screened for criminal history and the sheriff’s office also checks references. Overton said it will likely become routine also to interview a potential volunteer’s neighbors.

He acknowledged that the patrol program’s prohibition of volunteers carrying firearms might be open to challenge because a public entity is limiting a citizen’s right to bear arms. He said the sheriff’s office is seeking legal guidance related to that policy.

Kenneth Novak is a professor and chairman of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has studied neighborhood watch programs in the context of their role in community policing. He said a public law enforcement agency that prohibits volunteers from carrying firearms could be subject to challenge.

“I think it’s a gray area, and it’s probably going to vary by state,” Novak said.

“The big picture question here is, ‘What is the role of neighborhood watch programs?,’ ” he said.

Such programs were once designed to offer additional eyes and ears on the street and not to foster intervention by a citizen volunteer, he said.

Meanwhile, Overton said he has asked deputies and others for candid feedback about the citizens program and has received positive responses.

“Nothing [negative] has come across my desk,” Overton said.

He said the sheriff’s office will closely monitor the effectiveness and performance of the Citizens on Patrol effort.

“I’m not afraid to say, ‘This isn’t working,’ ” Overton said. “I’m not going to force something that is not working.”

On July 30, Hilfer and Newton wrapped up their shift, which had been absolutely uneventful.

“If you’re an adrenaline junkie, looking for excitement, this is not the program for you,” Hilfer said. “I’ve had enough excitement for a lifetime, and the quiet mountains of Franklin County are just the right tonic.”

Weather Journal

6 hours ago

1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County 

2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day

3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys

4. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping 

5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football 

6. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen

7. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust

8. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli 

9. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible

10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area